herbiehancock

Another TV show tie-in. I'm on a roll! I have a couple more to follow from old television programs as well. Instead of breaking this apart into separate entries, I thought I could talk about all four of my Bullmark (ブルマァク) Army of the Apes (猿の軍団) toys th at I have all at once. This is not a show I have eny experience with outside of what little information exists on the internet. Army of the Apes, or "Saru-no Gundan", was Tsuburaya Productions' television version of the U.S. Planet of the Apes series. The Army of the Apes series lasted only from 1974-1975 with 26 episodes. IMDB 's synopsis of the show is "A female scientist and two children are accidentally transported into a future dominated by apes." The show was adapted into an American dubbed movie in 1986 called Time of the Apes. I think it was covered on Mystery Science Theatre... I feel like the slacker kid in class trying to give a book report on a book I obviously have not read past the back cov...

Well, now we have a vintage toy that didn't bother making a fake King Kong... they give us the real thing! Here is a figure from the 1970s: King Kong (キング　コング) by Mego. Mego is an American toy company established in the 50s, but they really caught on full steam in the 1970s. The company obtained King Kong rights for toys along with the much hyped 1976 King Kong movie remake. Oddly, there was only one figure of King Kong himself actually produced in the U.S. (which came with a big shooting game), and there was also a plush doll. Other items released in the U.S. in this movie marketing campaign were punching bags, models, even a weird straw that had Kong climb a building as you slurped liquid through. In Japan, however, there were a couple King Kong figures produced for Mego by Bullmark. Gotta love Bullmark! There was a funny wind-up that had long arms stuck up in the air, and the classic waddly feet that you always see on wind-up walkers... and there was this more realistic vinyl fi...